I've been at my company for about a year and a half. I've grown considerably as a professional since I started, but that is about the only saving grace at this stage of my tenure here.

The company recently had a significant layoff/reorganization, which has thrown things into even more disarray than that which already existed. Our systems have grown even more archaic and disconnected. (Consequence of wanting in-house development rather than third-party systems.) I have made it work for the most part, but the messiness is so pervasive that I am at my wit's end. Things are more manual and untimely than they should be given the technology that exists.

My team used to be enjoyable, but experienced some layoffs as well. Now it's down to 3 of us. There used to be more collaboration, but now it's more about each of us surviving on our own responsibilities. There's no support in terms of resources to do our jobs, or upper management's insight.

Add to that, that my boss has become more aloof and almost downgraded in terms of responsibilities. I used to see her as a good resource, but now recognize that I am pretty much on my own. It's not that I am dependent on coworkers for that, but I feel like our team's value is becoming endangered because of her coming off as lost and not having a clear direction for our team. (I think the weight of her new title has gotten to her.)

At this stage, I am trying to justify my own value and potential for growth. Something my boss said got to me today, I'll paraphrase: "Ya know, yeah you have a new title but your responsibilities are basically 90% of the same as your old role." I felt a bit gut-punched, wondering if her perspective on my value could affect opportunities for mobility.

All of this being said, I have otherwise loved working for my boss and with my coworkers. The people are great, but the lack of resources, modernity and organization makes my work life more difficult than it should be.

TL;DR, but can anyone share similar experiences on how you went about solidifying your value and chances for upward movement? How did you handle a boss that was lost?

At this stage, I am trying to justify my own value and potential for growth. Something my boss said got to me today, I'll paraphrase: "Ya know, yeah you have a new title but your responsibilities are basically 90% of the same as your old role." I felt a bit gut-punched, wondering if her perspective on my value could affect opportunities for mobility.

What is confusing to me is that she ideally commented on your job description and you felt a threat to your market value and career growth. It points straight to your own insecurities about your value and mobility. Don't blame her. Her objective understanding of your JD says she has her mind in place regarding leading the team.

What is confusing to me is that she ideally commented on your job description and you felt a threat to your market value and career growth. It points straight to your own insecurities about your value and mobility. Don't blame her. Her objective understanding of your JD says she has her mind in place regarding leading the team.

Probably a month or so since layoffs/etc.

It's weird though, she was the one who pushed for my title/role change. I try to show her the things I'm doing that apply to my new title, which is another thing I feel has transpired. She's out of touch with our day-to-day responsibilities. I don't know if she chooses not to know, or is too busy to be informed as such. But it's shortchanging our team when she isn't aware of what her reports are doing or working on.

That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if our team is dissolved in the coming months and we get reassigned to different teams/departments.

Well if you think you're going to be re-assigned anyway it hardly matters what you think of your boss. BTW, I've never worked in any large company where nearly everyone didn't think their boss was out of touch and lost. It's the privilege of those with less responsibilities to sit back in judgment of those with greater. It's become a cliche that nearly everyone thinks they could run the company, dept etc better than the people actually doing it.

Maybe your view of her as being lost is actually inaccurate when her attention may simply be drawn to somewhere other than you at the present time. Restructuring isn't easy, if things are a mess she may simply be focusing on the bigger picture than you would personally prefer. You probably don't appreciate the pressures that she faces in her role.

I also thought your comment about your mobility etc to be insecure. My reaction was WTF, where did that come from? She's just trying to reassure you that actually the changes aren't as sweeping as you think in terms of your job and you can resume situation normal in the workplace. You seem really threatened by these changes instead of just rolling with it.

When it comes to upward mobility, I think you have to think of yourself as your own company. You have to maximize what you're able to produce and how marketable you are. That way you can enhance your opportunities in-house or elsewhere.

It might be a good idea to prepare to pursue growth elsewhere because a company that unorganized might be on its last legs.

It's become a cliche that nearly everyone thinks they could run the company, dept etc better than the people actually doing it.

Maybe your view of her as being lost is actually inaccurate when her attention may simply be drawn to somewhere other than you at the present time.

You probably don't appreciate the pressures that she faces in her role.

This is not what I'm saying at all, I understand I'm a rank-and-file at this stage in my corporate career. Knowing what our team does on a daily basis, she gets caught up in things well below her pay grade a lot of the time. (I've talked to coworkers who have agreed.) That's the sort of thing that makes me question her sense of direction for our team, and how she is handling her bigger picture role.

I definitely think it's growing pains for her learning a higher role in an uncertain time, which is why I have become more self-sufficient on the job as I originally said.

All that said, she has helped me in terms of growing professionally in the past. So I feel a sense of thoughtfulness in seeing her succeed too.

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I also thought your comment about your mobility etc to be insecure. My reaction was WTF, where did that come from? She's just trying to reassure you that actually the changes aren't as sweeping as you think in terms of your job and you can resume situation normal in the workplace. You seem really threatened by these changes instead of just rolling with it.

I don't think I explained my issue well. I'm not talking about feeling threatened by the uncertainty or the reorg in the situation I described. I'm talking about her questioning the type of work I do, when my new role is actually along the growth path that I want.

I think it's partly that she doesn't understand a lot of what I do (analytics, which was not part of my old role) or doesn't have the time to register it as such when I explain. It simply took me aback that she seemed so adamant that she feels I'm doing the same level of work. This is despite the role change that I wanted as well.

Then again, thinking more about it I agree with MidKnightDreams about just focusing on showing my own value overall. Gotta look out for yourself at the end of the day.

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Originally Posted by MidKnightDreams

When it comes to upward mobility, I think you have to think of yourself as your own company. You have to maximize what you're able to produce and how marketable you are. That way you can enhance your opportunities in-house or elsewhere.

It might be a good idea to prepare to pursue growth elsewhere because a company that unorganized might be on its last legs.

We're actually being acquired, which was the reason for the big layoff. Who knows if there will be another round, but I'm not keen on staying to find out. Hence me trying to grow my skills to transition to another job.

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